Over the weekend, my wife and I decided to take in a movie. Our film of choice?Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe - the controversial film which Robert De Niro first supported and later axed from his Tribeca Film Festival line up. Lucky for us, New York's Angelika Film Center was chosen to host the premiere, making it available to the general public.

My initial takeaway is that EVERY parent, not just the ones with autistic kids, should see this film. Vaxxed is directed by Dr. Andrew Wakefield who is well known as the researcher who published the now 'debunked' paper on the coincidence of MMR vaccination and a unique gastrointestinal disorder in autistic children. The intent of the movie is to prove that the CDC has compromised the integrity of many scientific studies done that actually proved a correlation between autism spectrum disorders and vaccines. The film has footage of interviews with reputable autism researchers and clinicians, politicos and journalists who have been involved in this issue for over 18 years.

Conversations with Dr. Brian Hooker, investigative biologist and Dr. William Thompson, now known as the "CDC Whisteblower" reveal that Dr. Thompson admitted that he and his colleagues at the CDC participated in a massive, coordinated cover-up of crucial data linking autism and MMR back in 2004. Dr. Thompson is not legally allowed to speak publicly because of his position with a government agency.Studies proving the safety of these vaccines comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children haveNEVER been done. Statistics analyzed by Dr. Thompson and Dr. Hooker, who is his spokesman in the film, were altered in order to falsely change the results of the study which proved 236% increase in autism in African American boys, thus minimizing a significant effect of the MMR vaccine. The CDC has tried to prove that "isolated autism" is what we are seeing and that normal children who develop appropriately are not effected by the MMR. Apparently the CDC is guilty of doing NO controlled studies - the same ones that are required for any drug or pharmaceutical product to be approved for use. There is evidence of omission of data and destruction of documents. Pharmaceutical manufacturers of vaccines are not held to the same standards since vaccines are categorized as necessary for public safety and thus are not subject to the same scrutiny as other medications.

Since 1986 the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act has paid over 3 Billion dollars in vaccine injury. This money does not come from Pharma but from taxpayer money. If there is no connection between vaccines and autism, then why all the pay outs??

At the rate of autism increasing based on real statistics around the world, the incidence could be as high as 1 in every 2 boys by the year 2032.

Congressmen Dave Weldon and Bill Posey have demanded transparency in this matter most recently in July 2015. To date nothing has been done by our congress to investigate these claims.Regardless of the fact that this appears a national emergency for infants and young children, regardless of the millions of grown children who are very ill, cannot speak, have multi-organ dysfunction and will have no place to live and no money to support their care, the CDC maintains their position that there was never a cover up.

The movie is not about whether or not children and adults should be vaccinated but rather it is about VACCINE SAFETY. As a pediatrician who treats these children and young adults and one who believed that vaccines were safe, I recommend that every parent see this film and draw your own conclusions. Another interesting takeaway? All of the perpetrators of the falsified studies and the former head of the CDC declined to be interviewed for this film.

Have you seen the film? I'd love to know what resonated with you...let's start a conversation.

Thank you for contact AIM Integrative Medicine. Someone from our office will be in touch shortly to answer any questions and to discuss the process of becoming a patient. You can also reach us by phone, Monday - Friday at 516-802-5028.